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Publication Abstract from PubMed

alpha-catenin is an actin- and vinculin-binding protein that regulates cell-cell adhesion by interacting with cadherin adhesion receptors through beta-catenin, but the mechanisms by which it anchors the cadherin-catenin complex to the actin cytoskeleton at adherens junctions remain unclear. Here we determined crystal structures of alphaE-catenin in the autoinhibited state and the actin-binding domain of alphaN-catenin. Together with the small-angle X-ray scattering analysis of full-length alphaN-catenin, we deduced an elongated multidomain assembly of monomeric alpha-catenin that structurally and functionally couples the vinculin- and actin-binding mechanisms. Cellular and biochemical studies of alphaE- and alphaN-catenins show that alphaE-catenin recruits vinculin to adherens junctions more effectively than alphaN-catenin, partly owing to its higher affinity for actin filaments. We propose a molecular switch mechanism involving multi-state conformational changes of alpha-catenin. This would be driven by actomyosin-generated tension to dynamically regulate the vinculin-assisted linkage between adherens junctions and the actin cytoskeleton.

An Autoinhibited Structure of alpha-catenin and Its Implications for Vinculin Recruitment to Adherens Junctions.,Ishiyama N, Tanaka N, Abe K, Yang YJ, Abbas YM, Umitsu M, Nagar B, Bueler SA, Rubinstein JL, Takeichi M, Ikura M J Biol Chem. 2013 Apr 15. PMID:23589308^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.